The present invention relates to disposable absorbent articles which are adapted to contain body exudates. More particularly, the present invention relates to pant-like disposable absorbent articles having prefastened, refastenable side seams, a waist size adjustment means to maintain the articles about the waist of the wearer, and methods of making the same.
It is desired that absorbent articles such as diapers, training pants or incontinence garments provide a close, comfortable fit about the wearer and contain body exudates. Moreover, it is desirable that such absorbent articles, after being soiled, can be removed from the wearer in a convenient and clean manner without undesirably soiling the caregiver or surrounding area such as the clothes of the wearer. In certain circumstances, it is also desirable that such absorbent articles are capable of being pulled up or down over the hips of the wearer to allow the wearer or caregiver to easily pull the article on and easily remove the article if it has not been soiled. In such circumstances it is further desirable for the caregiver or the wearer to be able to adjust the fit of the waist area of the article. For example, such absorbent articles can assist in the toilet training of children.
Conventional diapers are not provided in a prefastened condition and have typically included a front waist portion and a back waist portion which are releasably connected about the hips of the wearer during use by conventional fasteners such as adhesive tape fasteners or hook and loop type fasteners. For example, the conventional fasteners have typically included a pair of fasteners, such as adhesive tape tabs, located on the outermost corners of the diaper in the back waist region of the diaper and a complimentary fastener, such as a taping panel, located on the exterior surface of the outer cover of the diaper in the front waist portion of the diaper. In such a configuration, the diaper has been positioned between the legs of the wearer while the wearer is lying down and the adhesive tape tabs have been releasably attached to the taping panel to secure the back waist portion to the front waist portion of the diaper to secure the diaper about the waist of the wearer. Such conventional diapers are easy to fasten about and remove from the wearer after use without undesirably soiling the caregiver. However, such conventional diapers are not provided in a pant-like, prefastened configuration and, thus, are not configured to be pulled up or down over the hips of the wearer when the fasteners are attached. Moreover, the fasteners on such conventional diapers generally must be disengaged and reattached to further conform the waist portions of the diaper to the wearer. Such disengagement and reattachment for adjustment can be difficult to accomplish when the wearer is active.
Several attempts have been made to provide absorbent articles which effectively contain body exudates, are capable of being pulled up or down over the hips of the wearer and provide ease of cleaning and removal after being soiled. For example, some conventional absorbent articles, such as conventional training pants, have included integral side panels which connect the front waist portion to the back waist portion of the absorbent article. The side panels have been made stretchable such that the waist opening of the absorbent article can expand to allow the absorbent article to be pulled up or down over the hips of the wearer if desired. Such side panels have also been designed such that they may be torn to remove the training pant from the wearer after it has been soiled.
However, many of such attempts have not been completely satisfactory. For example, absorbent articles such as training pants have not always been able to achieve a close conforming fit to the wearer while still being able to expand enough to be pulled up and down over the hips of the wearer. Often such training pants fit the waist of the wearer loosely, which can undesirably result in leaks. As a result, many of such articles have not contained bodily exudates as effectively as conventional diaper-type articles which can be adjusted to achieve a more conforming fit to the wearer. Moreover, the inspection and removal of soiled absorbent articles which have integral side panels, such as conventional training pants, have not always been completely satisfactory. For example, the side panels have been difficult to tear when attempting to remove the article from the waist of the wearer instead of pulling the article down over the hips of the wearer.
Accordingly, despite the attempts to develop improved absorbent articles, there remains a need for absorbent articles which can provide the benefits of conventional training pants and conventional diapers. That is, there remains a need for absorbent articles which conform to the wearer to effectively contain bodily exudates, are capable of being pulled up and down over the hips and buttocks of the wearer, are readily secured about and removed from the wearer in a convenient and clean manner, and which allow easy inspection by the care giver to assist in determining whether the article is soiled. Moreover, there is a need for improved methods of reliably and consistently making such pant-like disposable absorbent articles.
In response to the difficulties and problems discussed above, new prefastened, pant-like disposable absorbent articles that have a waist size adjustment mechanism, and methods of making the same have been discovered. In one aspect, the present invention concerns a pant-like, refastenable, disposable absorbent article which defines an absorbent, a front waist region, a back waist region, a crotch region which extends between and connects the waist regions, a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction. The prefastened absorbent article further defines an exterior surface, an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, a pair of laterally opposed side edges and a pair of longitudinally opposed waist edges. The prefastened absorbent article includes a pair of refastenable side seams and at least one waist size adjustment means. The refastenable side seams refastenably attach the laterally opposed side edges of the front waist region to the back waist region to define a waist opening having a waist perimeter dimension and a pair of leg openings. The waist size adjustment means is for reducing the waist perimeter dimension after the prefastened absorbent article is positioned on the wearer and may be provided by a portion of at least one of the refastenable side seams.
In another aspect, the present invention concerns a pant-like, prefastened, disposable absorbent article which defines an absorbent, a front waist region, a back waist region, a crotch region which extends between and connects the waist regions, a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction. The prefastened absorbent article further defines an exterior surface, an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, a pair of laterally opposed side edges and a pair of longitudinally opposed waist edges. The prefastened absorbent article includes a pair of continuous fasteners permanently attached to the laterally opposed side edges in one of the waist regions. Each of the continuous fasteners includes a first engageable portion and at least one of the continuous fasteners includes a second engageable portion. The first engageable portions are refastenably attached to the opposite waist region of the disposable absorbent article to provide a pair of refastenable side seams. The refastenable side seams join the waist regions to define a waist opening having a waist perimeter dimension and a pair of leg openings, thereby providing the prefastened absorbent article. The second engageable portion of the continuous fastener extends from at least one of the refastenable side seams and is configured to releasably engage the opposite waist region to reduce the waist perimeter dimension and assist in maintaining the prefastened absorbent article about a wearers hips after the prefastened absorbent article is positioned on the wearer.
In yet another aspect, the present invention concerns a pant-like, prefastened, disposable absorbent article which defines an absorbent, a front waist region, a back waist region, a crotch region which extends between and connects the waist regions, a longitudinal direction and a lateral direction. The prefastened absorbent article further defines an exterior surface, an interior surface opposite the exterior surface, a pair of laterally opposed side edges and a pair of longitudinally opposed waist edges. The prefastened absorbent article includes a pair of fasteners which include primary and secondary fasteners. The pair of fasteners is permanently attached to the side edges of the back waist region. The pair of fasteners further includes an inboard longitudinal edge, an outboard longitudinal edge, and an intermediate portion between the primary and the secondary fasteners. The side edges of the front waist region are refastenably attached to the primary fasteners to form a pair of refastenable side seams which define a waist opening having a waist perimeter dimension and a pair of leg openings in the prefastened absorbent article. The secondary fasteners are configured to refastenably attach to the exterior surface of the absorbent article in the front waist region to reduce the waist perimeter dimension after the prefastened absorbent article is positioned on the wearer.
In still another aspect, the present invention concerns a pant-like, prefastened, disposable absorbent article which defines an absorbent chassis, a front waist region, a back waist region, a crotch region which extends between and connects the waist regions, a longitudinal direction, a lateral direction, a pair of opposed side edges and a pair of opposed waist edges. The pant-like, prefastened, disposable absorbent article is made by a process which comprises the steps of:
a) providing a continuous web of interconnected absorbent chassis;
b) permanently attaching a pair of laterally opposed fasteners to the side edges in the back waist region;
c) selectively cutting the continuous web of interconnected absorbent chassis into discrete absorbent articles;
d) folding each of the discrete absorbent articles about a fold line that extends in a lateral direction through the crotch region of the article thereby positioning the front waist region and the back waist region in a facing relationship; and
e) refastenably attaching a first portion of the fasteners in the back waist region to the opposed side edges in the front waist region to create a pair of side seams and to define a waist opening having a waist perimeter dimension and a pair of leg openings. A second portion of each of the fasteners is configured to refastenably attach to an exterior surface of the absorbent article in the front waist region to reduce the waist perimeter dimension after the prefastened absorbent article is positioned on the wearer.
The present invention advantageously provides pant-like, prefastened, disposable absorbent articles which include a waist size adjustment mechanism and methods of making the same. In particular, the present invention provides pant-like, prefastened, disposable absorbent articles which are capable of being reliably pulled up or down over the hips of the wearer to assist in the toilet training of the wearer similar to conventional training pants. Moreover, once the prefastened absorbent article is positioned on the hips of the wearer, the waist perimeter dimension may be reduced by the wearer or the caregiver without disengaging the prefastened side seams. The prefastened absorbent article thereby conforms to the body of the wearer to effectively contain bodily exudates. Additionally, similar to conventional diapers, the prefastened absorbent articles of the present invention can advantageously be applied to and removed from the wearer with relative ease and cleanliness after they have been soiled. Further, the prefastened absorbent articles of the present invention allow easy inspection by the caregiver to assist in determining whether the article is soiled, similar to conventional diapers.